The Star Wars New Republic Timeline

So here’s the thing: There are 30 years in between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and we’re only just starting to understand what’s happened to the galaxy in the interim.

There have been a few books, comics, and even a video game which provide some windows into that time period. What follows is a timeline in progress that seeks to shed as much light as possible on that 30 year period, and the major players and events in the Star Wars galaxy under three decades of New Republic rule.

Please note: We’re using the standard before/after the Battle of Yavin (BBY/ABY) time marker, which puts the events of Return of the Jedi at 4 ABY and the events of The Force Awakens at 34 ABY.

4 ABY

“Many ships of the Imperial Starfleet had escaped the battle of Endor – and many did not.” Regrouping to plan the next assault and name the next Emperor.

No one figure can consolidate power; many declarations of “Emperor,” sending Imperial soldiers to fight one another; civil unrest across the galaxy, even on Coruscant, which is in turmoil; Grand Vizier Mas Amedda tries to keep the Empire together “even as other forces threatened to tear it apart”

Anoat sector “cut off completely”

Rebels took “terrible losses” at Battle of Endor, are now “New Republic,” establish authority on worlds of their own

Ciena Ree transferred to space station Wrath, orbiting the planet Ponemah, under Grand Moff Randd for several months on medical leave; upon return, given command of the Star Destroyer Inflictor (the one we see Rey zooming by in The Force Awakens)

Six months after the Battle of Endor, Shara Bey and Kes Dameron muster out of the Rebellion, settle on Yavin IV with young Poe Dameron and one of the two pieces of the Jedi tree (see below)

Raids lab on Vetine, which holds the last remains of the tree that grew at the heart of the Jedi temple on Coruscant

Disrupts Operation: Cinder at Naboo, and beats back two additional attempts to retake Naboo, a “rallying point for Imperial sympathizers” and a “prosperous Mid-Rim world, its economy and environment far healthier than those of most planets that had been under Imperial rule”; one of the most “contested spots” in the galaxy

Mon Mothma, Princess Leia, Sondiv Sella, “and other top officials could not establish total authority”

Provisional Galactic Senate in place, passing laws to right the worst wrongs of the Empire

Beginning mass cleanup of polluted worlds, reparations for species enslaved

Imperials:

Jelucan still under Imperial control

“Everyone else with seniority has either defected to one of the splinter fleets or been eliminated”

“Fair portion” of the fleet committing to the Battle of Jakku to fight for that sector

Empire still holds most of the main construction facilities

Some academies still remain, and still train and send out new recruits

5 ABY

Battle of Jakku – four days after the anniversary of the Battle of Endor

“Even as [Ciena] watched, a walker took one hit too many, wobbled on its slender legs, then fell sideways so hard that sand exploded from the impact like a tidal wave” – is this the walker that becomes Rey’s home?

Thane Kyrrell rescues Ciena Ree; she ends up in a New Republic prison

New Republic Chancellor, from the Hosnian system, says New Republic fleet should stay on “war footing for the foreseeable future”

One month after Battle of Jakku, Empire attempts “no further large-scale offensives”

New hierarchy of command, new long-term strategy; training of new “conscripts” is harsher and faster

10 ABY

RIP Shara Bey

11 ABY

Welcome to the galaxy,Finn! Sorry you were taken by the First Order

15 ABY

Welcome to the galaxy, Rey! Sorry you’ll be abandoned on Jakku soon.

21 ABY

Rinnrivin Di is “no one,” an otherwise unremarkable criminal, but seven years later (28 ABY) has one of the largest criminal enterprises in the galaxy, funded by a faction of Centrist governments, passing the money through to groups like the Amaxine warriors

28 BBY

Players:

Luke and Ben have been out of touch with Leia “for a while” – she’s not actively seeking out their location

Han and Leia still married

Chewie living a domestic life on Kashyyyk

C-3PO up from “more than six million” to “nearly seven million” forms of communication

Darth Vader publicly revealed to be Leia and Luke’s father

Major events:

Republic mired in gridlock and partisanship, split into “Centrist” and “Populist” factions

First Order funding and military buildup in the Outer Rim first discovered; estimated 1,000 Amaxine warriors training on Daxam IV, one of five or six such bases

“Far-right” faction of Centrist senators secretly supporting the First Order and considering secession from the Republic

33-34 ABY

New Republic space and First Order space separated by a buffer of neutral systems

New Republic:

Senate Intelligence Committee doesn’t believe First Order to be a threat

Military command will not engage or provoke the First Order

First Order:

Operating in violation of the Galactic Concordance, making incursions into New Republic space

At staging point OR-Kappa-2722, First Order fleet consists of Star Destroyers, frigates, heavy crusiers, and more

Players:

FN-2187 (Finn) succeeds in simulations but freezes in real-world situation at Pressy’s Tumble, where Republic agents are purported to have infiltrated the mining operations, sabotaging equipment, and getting miners to strike (no evidence of it seen, however)

Rey rebuilds a ship, only to have it stolen from her and flown off-world

General Leia has been searching for Luke for a long time at this point

Admiral Ackbar is kidnapped (and then freed at some point prior to TFA)

C-3PO loses left arm on a mission, is repaired with red arm from another droid

Senator Ro-Kiintor colluding with the First Order; acquires information leading to the location of Lor San Tekka

Republic pilot Poe Dameron (along with pilots Karé Kun and Iolo Arana) joins the Resistance; sees first action against the First Order; is sent to search for Lor San Tekka